


Lost and Free at Last

by spacepirate



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, also tagging vax is very generous its just the raven, and also a little keyleth character study, fic of when keyleth and vilya reunite, this occurred to me at 1 am yesterday and i havent stopped thing about it, very tiny and also self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacepirate/pseuds/spacepirate
Summary: In the years since Vox Machina ceased adventuring, Keyleth has lead Zephrah.  But her old insecurities never fully left, and the creeping feeling of something missing strengthens with every day.Until of course, one fateful evening.-or, Keyleth and Vilya reunite.
Relationships: Keyleth & Vilya | Viridian
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	Lost and Free at Last

Keyleth, Voice of the Tempest and leader of the Air Ashari, looked out over Zephrah with a lump in her throat, as she did every morning. And every morning, as she walked out onto the balcony, a familiar raven came and landed on the twisting branches of the oak tree that provided shade. Today, the raven was a bit late. It felt about right for the way things had been going lately.

She rested her elbows on the railing, putting her chin in her hands. The raven hopped over to her, making curious sounds.

“Do you ever feel,” she asked it, staring out at the city, “that even though everything is going well enough and you’re doing everything as right as you can, that it’ll all come crashing down on your head without a warning?”

The raven tilted its head. 

“Of course you don’t. You’re a bird. Gods I’m stupid,” Keyleth muttered. She raked her fingers through her hair and adjusted the strap of her nightgown. “I can’t explain it. I keep thinking about Percy and what happened to the De Rolos- wait, did I tell you that he and Vex just had another kid? I think I did- anyways, I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. Maybe some deranged vampire and his cultist wife will come for me next.”

It squawked at her, like it was scolding her for that line of thought. She gave it a withering look.

“You don’t get to judge me for having anxiety.”

It made the sound again. Keyleth stood back up. “Good talk.” She walked back into her room and started to get ready for the day.

-

A few hours later, she was working in the garden. It seemed to baffle some of the townsfolk that their leader would do such a thing, but Keyleth found it comforting. Something about fostering new growth of life. Or the dirt. It could just be that she liked the dirt. Either was possible.

She was digging a hole for a tree. The new garden was one of her passion projects, and her goal was for it to be a meditation garden for the young druids of Zephrah. The weeping willow saplings were nowhere near their full size, but she hoped that she would be able to see them fully grown yet in her lifetime. _Provided there isn’t a vampire usurper- oh shut up, Keyleth. That’s unlikely and you know it._

Keyleth placed the sapling in the hole and started filling in around it. It was sickly looking on closer inspection. She looked at it closer, and found that the leaves were blighted. She wrapped her hands around the trunk and focused the natural energy that flowed through Zephrah itself. Soft yellow light flowed from her hands and into the little tree. The leaves were coated in the light and the blighted patches on them began to heal over with fresh green. The trunk itself seemed to grow stronger. Keyleth sat back on her heels, content.

She patted the last of the dirt down around the newly-healed tree. For awhile, she sat there in silence, thinking of nothing in particular.

Someone cleared their throat from behind her. She jumped to her feet and turned around, and then relaxed when she saw who it was.

“Derrig! You scared me,” she said. The older half-elf bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“Apologies, Tempest,” he said in that low voice of his. “I just was told that you were digging a hole. I wanted to check in.”

Keyleth snorted. “They really must think I’m losing it, huh?”

“No! That is not what I meant to imply, Tempest. I only wanted to offer some companionship if you wanted to… continue digging your hole.” He smiled faintly, making his scars twist the corners of his mouth. “You seem more lonely these days.”

She looked away from him, rubbing her arm absently. 

Derrig didn’t push. He nodded again. “I’ll take my leave. See you at the meeting tonight.” He bowed one more time, and turned on his heel and walked away.

Keyleth watched him leave. She’d forgotten about the meeting. There was absolutely nothing she wanted to do less right now than go speak in front of the other Ashari leaders. Of course, she had little say in it. She huffed out a breath in irritation and went back to her abode.

-

Getting fully dressed for the meeting was an ordeal. The entire outfit was needlessly complicated. Derrig’s triplet girls were always eager to help with the things she couldn’t reach herself. The underdress was simple enough- basically what she would wear around her home. The leather bodice was her repurposed armor, and it was laced down her back. Over that she wore the Mantle of the Tempest, the shifting colors of the leaves cascading down her back and just barely touching the ground. And of course, she couldn’t forget her circlet, placed gently over her plaited orange hair.

She thanked the girls and dismissed them, walking over to the mirror on her bedroom wall. Korrin, her father, had often told her that she would make a fine leader after her Aramente. But looking at her reflection in the mirror, the way she seemed dwarfed by the Mantle, she couldn’t help but feel… inadequate. 

“That’s stupid,” she told herself. “How you look in the Mantle doesn’t affect your leadership skills. Zephrah is doing good. You’re doing good.”

She adjusted her circlet again and started her walk towards the cliff’s edge.

-

The meeting went by in a daze. She’d read the speech she prepared, and half-listened to the other headmasters discuss their own issues. In the branches of the big tree they congregated under, she saw the raven perched, staring down at the meeting in progress. For awhile, she stared back, until Korrin shook her back to her senses.

“Keyleth,” he said softly, shaking her shoulder. “Keyleth. The meeting is over. You can go home now.”

She flinched at the touch. “Oh. Thanks, Dad. I think I’m going to stay here for a little bit longer. It’s… nice out tonight.”

Korrin furrowed his brow. “Well, get home safely. I know you can handle yourself but… a father worries.”

“I love you,” Keyleth said quietly. Korrin kissed the top of her head and left for home.

-

Keyleth sat there for a long while. She idly noticed the raven had left at some point during her meditation but some part of her acknowledged that she was okay with that. It was nice to be alone.

The sun was starting to set, the sky fading from blue to orange to a deep pink. Around her she could hear the wind that protected Zephrah from the rest of the world howling over the cliff’s edge. The leaves of the giant tree rustled softly in the breeze, and Keyleth watched some drift in circles to the ground in front of her.

There was the sound of wood splintering. Keyleth darted to her feet once again, eyes wide as the center of the tree began to split vertically, and a figure stepped through.

Her mother had aged. Her curly wild mane of red-brown hair had streaks of gray to it, the laughter lines on her face evident even from a distance. One leg was replaced with a mass of tangled vines, and her clothes were clearly well-worn. She leaned slightly on a gnarled wooden staff. But… there stood Vilya. Thirty years after Keyleth had accepted her loss.

Keyleth clutched her hands to her chest, her mind moving as quickly as the wind trying to process what was in front of her. She struggled to form words, mouth moving uselessly. A few tears leaked out the corners of her eyes.

“Keyleth,” Vilya said, a smile spreading across her face.

Throwing aside the Spire of Conflux, Keyleth sprinted over and wrapped her arms around her mom, nearly knocking her over with the force of the hug.

“Mom,” Keyleth choked out. There was so much she wanted to say, but through her sobs that was the only thing she could manage.

Vilya held her tightly for a long time as Keyleth sobbed onto her shoulder. After a few minutes, Vilya patted her on the back. “Keyleth. I can’t breathe.”

Keyleth let go, a mixture of laughter and gross crying as she stared at her mother’s face again. She wiped her nose with her arm and sniffed. “Mom.”

Vilya traced Keyleth’s face, wiping away the tears. “My daughter,” she whispered. “I have so many stories to tell you.”

**Author's Note:**

> hiiiii this has been stuck in my head so here you go world  
> find me on twitter @just_nott  
> thank you for reading, i hope you have a great day!


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